Apparatus for cleaning textile rolls



April 29, 1958 A. K. MOCOLLOUGH, JR 2,832,084

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE ROLLS Filed June 16, 1952 2 She-ts-Sheet1 INVENTOR:

3 JOHN KM CoLLoueuJra. F =2 BY ATTORNEYS April 29, 1958 .1, K.MGCOLLOUGH, JR 2,832,034

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE ROLLS Filed June 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR: J'oHN K. M CoLLousHJR.

F 4 BY g lwhgw ATTORNEYS APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE ROLLS IohnMcQollough, Jr., Gaifney, S. C., assignor to Deering Milliken ResearchCorporation, Pendleton, S. C., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationJune 16, 1952, Serial No. 293,760 2 Claims. (CI. 15-21) This inventionrelates to an apparatus for cleaning textile rolls and more specially toa machine for cleaning clearer rolls of the type covered with felt orother relatively soft material and which are used on drawing frames,spinning frames and the like for removing accumulations of lint andforeign matter from the usual top rolls thereof.

There are many different types of clearer rolls, but most clearer rollsgenerally comprise an elongated shaft having reduced journaled portionson opposite ends thereof and which shafts are covered with felt orsimilar padding. In some instances, the padding extends the entirelength of the shaft and, in other instances, the padding is arranged asbosses spaced longitudinally on the shaft. The clearer roll usuallyrests in engagement with the upper surfaces of top rolls of a spinningframe or the like and any accumulations of lint or other foreign matterpicked up by the top rolls will, in turn, adhere to the clearer rollsand will thus be wrapped around the clearer rolls in various degrees ofdepth, hardness, compactness and matted conditions, with the result thatthe clearer rolls have to be removed from the machine and cleanedperiodically.

it is the primary object of this invention to provide a simple andefiicient machine for cleaning such clearer rolls automatically.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cleaning machine forclearer rolls and the like comprising a rotary brush, the bristles ofwhich are preferably made from relatively fine wire, such as burnishingwire, with a pair of guide members, such as rods or shafts, spacedslightly above the rotary brush and parallel to the axis thereof. A pairof plates or blocks slotted at their upper edges extend between and areslidably mounted on the guide members to facilitate relative adjustmentthereof, the slots in the plates being adapted to receive the reducedends of a clearer roll and the longitudinally adjustment of the blocksfacilitating the accommodation of clearer rolls or the like of varyinglengths. Suitable means are provided to drive the rotary Some of theobjects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appearas the description pro ceeds, when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of theimproved roll cleaning machine with portions thereof broken away toillustrate the manner in which the clearer roll is sup ported during thecleaning operation.

Patent broken away looking in the general direction of the arrow 4 inFigure l. l

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 broadlydesignates a frame or enclosure of the machine. The casing or housingfor the machine may be of any desired construction and, in thisinstance, comprises a base formed from angle bars 11, 12, 13 and 14 towhich a bottom wall or panel 15 is suitably secured. Each of thelongitudinally extending angle bars 13 and 14 has the lower ends ofupright angle bars 16, 17, 18 and 19 suitably secured thereto, each ofthe respective pairs of angle bars 16, 17 and 18, 19 being spanned byrespective upper frame members or angle bars 22 and 23 suitably securedthereto.

The upper ends of the front vertical frame members or angle bars 16arespanned by an angle bar or frame member 24 and the upper ends of therear angle bars 19 are spanned by an angle bar or. frame member 25suitably secured thereto. The upper ends of the angle bars 18 are alsospanned by a transverse frame member or angle bar 26. A top wall 28having a transverse opening 31 therein is suitably secured to and spansthe distance between the respective pairs of frame members 22 and 23.Suitable side walls are indicated at 29 and 30.

Each of the front upright angle bars or frame members 16 has avertically grooved guide 32 fixed thereto and each of the rear verticalangle bars or frame members 19 has a vertically grooved guide 33suitably secured thereto for slidably receiving respective front andrear panel doors 35 and 36. The doors 35 and 36 are provided withrespective pairs of horizontally spaced handles 37 and 33 fixed to theouter surfaces thereof for raising and lowering the panel doors 35 and36 as desired for access to the interior of the housing or casing 10. Itwill be observed in Figures 1 and 3 that suitable locking means such asa pair of thumb screws 40 slidably penetrate each of the doors 35 and 36and are threadably embedded in the corresponding transverse framemembers 24 and 25 for securing the doors 35 and 36 to the frame of themachine to permit the handles 37 and 33 to be utilized for transportingthe machine from one place to another. Of course, when the machine hasbeen transported to a desired location, the locking means 40 may bereleased to permit the doors 35 and 36 to be raised and lowered.

Now, referring to Figures 3 and 4, there is shown a rotary brush,broadly designated at 42, which is spaced below the opening 31 in thetop wall of the housing 10. This rotary brush 42 may be constructed invarious ways and preferably comprises a wooden roller 43 having itsperiphery covered with a spirally arranged strip of base fabric or otherflexible material 41 having extending therefrom closely spacedrelatively fine bristles 44 which are preferably made from burnishingwire and extend radially from the periphery of the wooden roller 43. Thestrip of material having the burnishing wire bristles extendingtherefrom is applied to the roller 43 in much the same manner as cardclothing is applied to card cylinders. The wooden roller 43 is fixed ona shaft 45 which extends beyond opposite ends of the wooden roller 43and is rotatably mounted in bearing blocks 46 suitably secured to theside walls 29 and 30 (Figures 1 and 2).

The rotary brush 42 is driven continuously by suitable means such as anelectric motor 47 fixed to the upper wall panel 28 and coupled to therotary brush 42 by V- pulleys 50 and 51 and a V-belt 52. The upper wallpanel 28 is provided with an elongated opening through which the belt52' extends and which opening is closed by a suitable shield 53 whichextends over the upper portion of the V-belt 52 and the V-pulley and issuitably secured to the top wall 28 of the housing 10. Suitable wires 54and 54a extend to a source of electrical energy, not shown.

Each of the side panels or side walls 29 and 30 have a pair of spacedvertically extending slots 55 and 56 in that portion of the upper edgethereof which bridges the opening 31 in the top wall 28 and which slotsare slidably penetrated by the ends of horizontally disposed guidemembers 57 and 53 which are shown in the form of rods or shafts. Theends of each of the shafts 57 and 58 are provided with reduced threadedportions 61 which slidably penetrate an adjustment plate or block 62 andeach reduced portion 61 has a nut 63 on the outer end thereof forsecuring the ends of the guide members 57 and 58 to the adjustmentblocks or plates 62. The adjustment plates or blocks 62 are providedwith a pair of vertically extending adjustment slots 64 therein whichare penetrated by screws 65 for securing the corresponding adjustmentblocks or plates 62 to the corresponding side walls 29 and 30 of thehousing 10.

The guide members 57 and 58 are spanned by a pair of longitudinallyspaced roll support members or plates 66 and 67 which are slidablymounted on the guide members 57 and 58 and are adjustably securedthereto by any suitable means such as set screws 70 (Figure 4). Each ofthe roll supports 66 and 67 is provided with a transverse verticalgroove 71 positioned substantially midway in the upper edge thereof forreception of the journal portions 72 at opposite ends of a clearer rollor the like 73 having a felt covering or felt covered bosses 74 thereon.The guide members 57 and 58 are closely spaced above the rotary brush 42and may be adjusted relative to the rotary brush 42 by means of theadjustment blocks 62 so that the bottoms of the grooves 71 in the rollsupport 66 and 67 may support the roll 73 in a predetermined positionrelative to the rotary brush 42.

Thus, the roll 73 may be accurately positioned so that the bristles 44of the rotary brush 42 barely touch the felt or other covering materialduring rotation thereof in order to remove accumulations of lint andother matter from the covering material 74 on the roll 73. This insuresthat the felt or other covering material or padding will not be ripped,out or damaged in any way by the bristles 44.

It is evident that rolls of various diameters and lengths may be cleanedwith the present apparatus by vertically adjusting the guide members 57and 58 relative to the rotary brush 42 in accordance with the diameterof a particular roll 73 to be cleaned and, also, by adjusting thesupports 66 and 67 relative to each other along the guide members 57 and58 to agree with the length of the roll 73 to be cleaned.

In order that the supports 66 and 67 may clear the bristles 44 of therotary brush 42, the lower surface of each of the supports 66 and 67 iscut away, as at 76 as is clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4, this lowersurface 76 of each of the roll supports 66 and 67 preferably be ingcurved to conform substantially to the curvature of age path of travelof the bristles 44 on the rotary brush Retarding weight means in theform of a hinged cover or drag bar 80 is provided to retard rotation ofthe roll 73 as the cover thereon is being cleaned by the rotary brush42. The drag bar 80 extends at least the full length of the rotary brush42 and normally rests in frictional engagement with the clearer rollbeing cleaned and substantially closes the opening 31 in the top wall28. This drag bar 80 should preferably be of a relatively lightmaterial, such as wood and the like to merely retard rotation of theclearer roll 73 while permitting roll 73 to be rotated by the brushingaction of the bristles 44 of the rotary brush. The drag bar 80 may besupported '4 in any desired manner and, in the present instance, a framemember 81 in the form of an angle bar is suitably secured to the frontportion thereof and a pair of strap members 82 are secured to the member81 and extend rearwardly and are hingedly connected, as at 83, to theupper wall 28 of the housing or casing 10 adjacent the rear edgethereof. A suitable handle 84 is preferably provided on the cover ordrag bar for raising the same to substantially the broken line positionshown in Figure 3 to facilitate removal and replacement of clearerrolls. in actual practice, it has been found that when the bristles 44of the rotary brush 42 are formed from burnishing wire, the rotary brushis virtually self-cleaning, the lint and other foreign matter beingremoved therefrom due to the action of centrifugal force only.

However, in the event that the rotary brush 42 becomes heavily embeddedwith lint and the like, the centrifugal force may be insufiicient tothoroughly clean the rotary brush 42. I have, therefore, provided aplate 86 which extends longitudinally beneath the rotary brush 42 and isprovided with a plurality of closely spaced teeth 87 thereon whichproject into the path of travel of the bristles 44 of the rotary brush42. This plate 86 may be supported in any desired manner and in thepresent instance I have provided a pair of brackets 90 whose upper endsare suitably secured to the plate 86 and whose lower ends are suitablysecured to a base plate 91 which is, in turn, suitably secured to thebottom plate 15 of the housing 10.

It is thus seen that I have provided a unique apparatus for cleaningindividual rolls of varying lengths and diameters and wherein a rotarybrush is provided in combination with means to accurately position theroll to be cleaned relative to the bristles of the rotary brush tothereby entirely remove any accumulations of lint or other foreignmatter from the felt covering or padding on the rolls without injury tothe felt covering or other padding.

In the preferred simplified construction, the cleaning apparatus islight in weight and is readily portable from place to place by means ofthe handles 37 and 38. This permits efficient utilization of theapparatus adjacent the machines having the clearer rolls thereon.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for removing accumulations of lint and the like fromelongated textile rolls comprising a frame, an elongated rotary brushrotatably supported in said frame, means for driving said rotary brush,a pair of guide members carried by said frame and extending inlongitudinal spaced parallel relation above the axis of rotation of saidbrush, a pair of blocks slidably mounted on and bridging the guidemembers to permit adjustment of the blocks longitudinally on said guidemembers, each of said blocks having a slot in the upper edge thereofintermediate their ends and extending parallel to the guide members forreceiving the ends of the textile roll, means for vertically adjustingthe guide members relative to the brush for positioning the bottoms ofsaid slots a predetermined distance above the upper surface of thebrush, an elongated pressure applying retarding member adapted to restupon the textile roll, and means pivotally connecting said pressureapplying retarding member to said frame whereby said pressure applyingretarding member may be swung away from above the blocks to facilitateplacing of a textile roll in the slots in said blocks with the peripheryof the roll bearing against the rotary brush.

2. Apparatus for removing accumulations of lint and the like fromelongated textile rolls comprising a frame, and elongated rotary brushrotatably supported in said frame, means for driving said rotary brush,a pair of guide 5 members carried by said frame and extending in longi-References Cited in the file of this patent tudinal spaced parallelrelation above the axis of rotation UNITED STATES PATENTS of said brush,a pair of blocks shdably mounted on and bridging the guide members topermit adjustment of the 16,056 Terrell, 1925 blocks longitudinally onsaid guide members, each of said 5 1501725 spauldmg May 12, 1874 blockshaving a slot in the upper edge thereof intermediate 642,452 Hull 3011900 their ends and extending parallel to the guide members 826,834Cramp 31 July 1906 for receiving the ends of the textile rolls, anelongated 1,183,035 Rooney et a1 May 1916 pressure applying retardingmember adapted to rest upon 1,770,201 Eaton July 8, 1930 the textileroll, and means pivotally connecting said pres- U 1,890,310 Eaton May1932 sure applying retarding member to said frame wher'eby 2,032,482Mont 1936 said pressure applying retarding member may be swung 2,164,443Batchelder July 1939 away from above the blocks to facilitate placing ofa textile roll in the slots 111 said blocks With the periphery of 152,542,205 Mort Feb- 1951 the roll bearing against the rotary brush.2,739,326 Martin Man 27, 1956

